After The Revelation
by Julia451
Summary: 3 one-shots inspired by the Legend of Korra episode "The Revelation." Include Korra, Mako, Bolin, and Amon.
1. Big Brother Is Watching You

_Mako and Bolin have a little... "chat" after the escape from the rally._

* * *

They had made it home safely, too exhausted to question why they weren't followed. All doors and windows were locked, all injuries bandaged and doctored as best as possible, all of the brothers' concerns about the Equalists' arch enemy traveling home alone in the dark ignored. Korra was long gone, and now the lights of the torches lining the boardwalk on Air Temple Island finally went out as several more rooms in the island's main residence lit up. This signaled to Mako that the Avatar had returned, allowing her White Lotus body guards to retire from their vigil for the night... which meant so could he.

Breathing a just-barely-audible sigh of relief, the Firebender left his seat at the window, sank into the couch, grabbed the water pitcher from the low table, and dumped its contents down his throat. His insides still felt like they'd been burnt to a crisp; he made a mental note to brush up on defending against lightning attacks... as soon as at least half the muscles in his body stopped aching, that is.

Suppressing a groan of pain, Mako leaned back, closed his eyes, and breathed slowly like he did when meditating, trying to calm his mind. Hah - no chance of that after what he'd seen tonight. He gave up and sat up again in time to see his brother come in from the next room, wet towel around his shoulders. Bolin tossed the sweaty, grimy shirt from the night's attacks into a pile of clothes against the wall and retrieved a fresh shirt from the pile next to it. He collapsed prostrate on the couch just as Mako rose and began pacing around the room, trying to relieve his nervous tension through movement.

"Did Korra make it home okay?" Bolin asked, turning his head around towards the window.

"Looks like it," Mako replied flatly. He paused in his walk and leaned against the wall in his favorite posture, crossing his arms as he looked at his brother with scrutinizing, narrowed eyes. "How about you? You all right?"

"Ah, I've been worse. Remember that match against the Saber-toothed Moose Lions?" Bolin answered with a smile, feebly trying to lighten the mood. Pabu crawled down the ladder from the loft and climbed onto his master's chest. Bolin stroked him behind the ears, thankful his friend had made it through the night's ordeal unscathed. "Took me a week before I could turn my neck to the left again."

"You sure you're okay?" Mako asked again as he walked back to the couch.

"Mako, I'm fine," Bolin assured him. After all the trouble he'd caused his older brother tonight, he hoped he wasn't still worrying about him. "Actually, the most painful part of the night was riding home hanging from a polar bear-dog's mouth."

Mako was standing over his brother now, his voice and the expression on his face completely calm and neutral. "You're _really _sure you're okay?" he repeated.

"Yes. I'm. Okay," Bolin said firmly.

"Good."

Pabu sensed the danger in enough time to leap away; Bolin realized it an instant too late. In a split second, his brother's arm had shot forward, grabbed him by the collar, lifted him in the air, and pinned him against the wall. The Earthbender could see the fire blazing in his eyes, feel his breath coming out so hot, it almost hurt.

"Keep in mind, if you kill me now, all your hard work tonight will be a real waste, won't it?" Bolin suggested with a desperate smile.

"You think I'm going to kill you?" Mako asked sardonically. "Wishful thinking," he added as he turned his free hand into a flaming fist.

"Hey, I was only trying to help!" Incredible - the intensity of his brother's glare actually _increased_; how did he do that? Well, wrong approach...

"Look, I know exactly what you're going to say," the prisoner stated matter-of-factly. "That was the most reckless, stupid, boneheaded stunt I've ever pulled, I'm lucky I didn't get us all killed, what was I thinking... Here, I'll save you the trouble." Ignoring the fact that he was still dangling in the air between the wall and a very angry Firebender, Bolin cleared his throat and adopted the best imitation of his older brother's Lecture Voice (he'd heard it enough throughout his life) and gestures possible under the circumstances. "_Were you on Si Wong Desert Cactus, or are you just completely insane? How many times do I have to tell you - Zolt and all the Triple Threats are nothing but trouble. Stay away from them. Whatever they offer, it's not worth it. We're not stupid and desperate like we were when we were kids. One of these days, I'm not going to get there in enough time to bail you out. What's it going to take to get through to you?_"

Bolin dropped the act as his brother's flames cooled down. "Well, you'll be happy to know I've officially learned my lesson," he said, exaggeratedly upbeat. "No more deals with the Bending gangs. In fact, as far I'm concerned, I've forgotten that the Triple Threat Tri-whatever even exists. Never again! I swear on my honor as an Earthbender." As Bolin raised his right arm in a mock salute, Mako released him and let him drop - _hard_ - to the floor. Well, he had to admit he deserved that.

"You're lucky I need you in one piece for the tournament," Mako mumbled sarcastically. With that, he turned his back and began walking towards the ladder up to the loft.

Bolin couldn't let his brother go, though, until they really had made up. This night had, after all, been the worst trouble he'd ever gotten into. "Mako," he said sheepishly. His brother stopped but didn't turn around. "I really am sorry. If anything had happened to you... or Korra because of me, I could never forgive myself."

Mako sighed, turned around with his head bowed, and said simply, "And if anything ever happened to you, _I'd _never forgive myself. Don't put me through that."

"I won't," Bolin said solemnly. "I promise."

With that, the boys simultaneously moved forward and embraced, each reassuring himself that he still had a secure hold on what mattered most to him in the world.

"Good," Mako said as he pulled away, looking up and turning his face towards the view of the city, crawling at this very moment with a cult that lusted for the blood of Benders, led by a man who had the power to make their worst nightmare a reality and doom them to a fate worse than death. "Because the streets just got a whole lot more dangerous."


	2. You're Invited

The Avatar had come after all.

Amon was pleasantly surprised.

He had worried several times that his clue was too obvious, but the puzzle map had apparently served its purpose well – providing a blatant, easily-spotted signpost to the destination while still appearing to be a hidden, encrypted message. She evidently never suspected it was meant first and foremost for her eyes.

Revealing the magnificent extent of his power and of his following to the Avatar became his greatest desire the day she announced her arrival in Republic City. It was only fair that she know that she and her kind were no longer welcome in his world of Equality, that the fate of the world was in his hands now instead of hers, and that she was powerless to hinder him. But it had to be done in style.

Planning the secret meeting where all of his followers would witness the great Revelation was easily done, but how to invite the guest of honor? Sending a straightforward message, either anonymous and cryptic or signed and direct, would be too suspicious; it was unlikely the impulsive girl would turn it down, but she would be on her guard, perhaps with her mentor or any number of her body guards either by her side or hidden until they could interrupt at the worst possible time for him. Kidnapping her and forcing her to watch was too risky, no matter how much he trusted his chi blockers. The truth was that he didn't trust the skills of any of his soldiers enough – not when it came to stealth and trickery – to help him with this plan; they would all have to remain uninformed.

Yes, trickery it would have to be.

None of his lieutenants questioned his method of concealing the location on the fliers; it struck them all as a perfectly reasonable precaution. They didn't know to expect the most hated human being in the world to arrive; she would have safe passage to a perfect view of him in all his glory as he demonstrated his mighty power. The plan was only missing one crucial component.

Every trap needed bait.

But what bait could he get his hands on? The Airbender and his family, safe beyond the city on Air Temple Island, now crawling with White Lotus sentries, were out of the question. What else did the Avatar value? His surveillance revealed two Pro-Benders were the only other people with whom she regularly associated. Perhaps one of them would do.

Nothing seemed more logical to his spies than to extend their surveillance to the Avatar's new companions. Now all he had to do was wait for the perfect opportunity. He found it the day they reported that the Earthbender was just hired by Lightning Bolt Zolt.

He had hoped to use the Firebender, but he was too foolish to consider passing up the chance before him now for the sake of waiting for a chance to indulge a petty grudge. He must seize this opportunity and be patient; all Firebenders would pay for how they made him and others suffer soon enough.

He had kept his chosen date for the Revelation and his chosen examples secret from even his closest followers – because he never knew himself what and who they should be until now. He had kept his eyes open for the perfect timing and targets until all the components of his plan were in place. Nobody had any reason to question his sudden instructions to print the fliers with tomorrow's date in time to start distributing them tomorrow morning; the smaller the window, the less chance of interference. Nor was there anything the least bit curious about his plan to kidnap the infamous Triple Thread Triad tonight; he was simply fulfilling his promise to rid the city of the tyranny of its Bending oppressors.

The crowd was bigger than even he had anticipated. He had to speak extra slowly to give himself enough time to scan the multitude for the right face. The look of shock and horror when he disclosed his power gave her away.

Let her run.

The night had been a complete success.


	3. Breaking News

The sudden banging on their attic-apartment's trap door entrance was the second shock the brothers received in as many minutes that morning. They barely had time to shift instinctively to the guard position before a voice began shouting, "It's Korra! Open up! Hurry!" When Mako unlocked and opened the door, he was greeted not by a face but by the newspaper she was waving over her head. "Have you seen the paper this morning?" They nodded. That had been the first shock.

A few short paragraphs on B-10 about an unexplained double suicide in the North Shore district, earning a raised eyebrow – a gasp and a "How tragic!" at the most – from most of its readers, not even worth a second glance to anyone but the three teenagers exchanging looks of grief and disgust as they absorbed the sequel to the horrific scene they witnessed the previous night.

It had started like a routine crime: an apothecary was wakened in the middle of the night by the sounds of someone banging and rummaging around his shop on the floor below. He was startled, at first (being a Waterbender meant that the city's commonplace criminal Bending gangs, as a rule, left him alone) but soon gathered enough courage to go confront the intruder. Grabbing his sack of water, he crept down the stairs from his apartment and cracked open the door to the shop. He saw a man with his back to him, frantically tossing aside the herbs on some shelves, appearing to seek something he wanted badly, but when he ventured farther into the room, someone struck him hard on the back of the head, knocking him prostrate to the ground. He tried to struggle to his feet but his attacker threw aside his water pouch and held him face down against the floor with his arms pinned behind his back as his partner continued his desperate search. He finally shouted that he found it, and the two ran out the door they had apparently kicked in earlier.

After their victim overcame the shock that they actually left him alive and unharmed, he began combing through the mess of scattered herbs, broken bottles, and collapsed shelves, trying to find what they had taken. He assumed it could only be some drug whose craving had driven them crazy. To his dismay, the first thing he found missing was a bottle of poison – intended for use against termite-roaches but equally fatal to humans. He hurried to fetch the police, hoping they could find the would-be murderers before they accomplished their crime.

The Metalbender who found the bodies of two men in an alley a few blocks away by Central Station at first feared they were too late. The witness' quick recognition of them as none other than the two thieves themselves, however, put everything in a different light. The remnants of the lethal powder crushed in their hands, the telltale signs of the poisoning on their bodies, confirmed it; the robbery had been the prelude not to an assassination but a suicide.

The men were easily identified as a certain Waterbender and Earthbender suspected of belonging to the infamous Bending gang the Triple Threat Triad, each with a record of various counts of robbery, vandalism, assault, and extortion. Chief Bei Fong's theory was that their guilty consciences had finally been too much to bear. The reporter who broke the story suspected the police must have been unknowingly on the verge of discovering some horrible crime that would have cost them their freedom forever. What no one could understand was why they hadn't used their Bending during the break-in.

Tenzin had been stunned when Korra abruptly reached across the breakfast table and wrenched the paper out of his hands that morning. The mugshots on the back page… she had seen them before, kneeling in terror as they waited helplessly for their turn to have part of their soul ripped away. She could never forget them.

Mako remembered them just as vividly. He wondered why he felt so stunned; if anything, the most confusing part of the case from their privileged point of view should be that there hadn't been four bodies. Would it be long before Amon's other two victims sought the merciful release of death from their waking nightmare – living with a part of you gone, with a process that seemed as natural and necessary as breathing and eating stopped? What bender wouldn't choose death over a half-life cut off from their element?

Bolin was the most strongly affected by the news; his brother and friend struggled to discuss it, to comfort each other, to wonder what their enemy's next move would be, what (if anything) they could do, but he could only sit in silence and relive the horror of last night, the memory almost more vivid than the experience itself.

He remembered the slow hours of imprisonment in a solitary metal cell, when he had the comfort of the full confidence that his brother would come for him. A disinterested bystander might have logically examined the long odds against such a hope, but the possibility of his brother letting him down just didn't exist for Bolin, no matter what the obstacles or mysteries or dangers that stood in his way.

He remembered Amon telling the crowd he was about to remove someone's Bending permanently, making him actually think that the whole thing must be some elaborate prank; the thought was so unbearable… so impossible, it had to be a trick.

He remembered watching the second Firebender shake all over with dread after his leader collapsed, his inner fire extinguished forever. Why had Amon's soldiers skipped him and taken the next prisoner in line instead? To prolong his evident anguish? To give the crowd some variety in the show?

He remembered the eyes of the other Earthbender staring at him as they waited alone for seconds that felt like ages. They had never met, never spoken before, but they had connected somehow as they held each other's gaze: reflecting the other's fear-stricken face, silently begging him to say this was all a dream he would wake up from soon, regretting every foolish decision that had led them to this spot, wondering if they deserved it, hoping the roof would fall in and save them from the nightmarish fate approaching closer and closer.

Underneath the maddening horror, Bolin thought he saw something else in the man's eyes. Was it pity? For him? Why? Because he was so young? Because he wasn't one of them, who were responsible for making Benders so hated? He would never know.

How close he had come to the same doom… Would he have done the same? Bolin tried to imagine living without his connection to the Earth. It was like trying to imagine life without one of his limbs, without his eyes or ears, without his memories, without the ability to move.

No, Mako was right; there was nothing the least bit surprising about the story at all.


End file.
